Chieftain boys start hot, but fall to BLHS in sub-state semis

Basehor  The Tonganoxie High boys started the second half with a nine-point lead, but couldn't find an answer for a late Basehor-Linwood surge in a 63-49 loss Friday in Class 4A-1 sub-state action at BLHS.

The Chieftains (9-12) came out of the locker room on top, 30-21, but the Bobcats (18-3) roared back to take a seven-point lead at the end of the third quarter. A pair of 3-pointers by Chase Younger headlined a 14-4 run that covered more than five minutes of gave time and gave BLHS its first lead since midway through the first half.

Younger's second trey made it a 10-point game early in the fourth, and Tonganoxie never threatened to go back in front.

"He's who we were hoping might have an off night," coach Shawn Phillips said of Younger. "In the first half, I thought Jared Sommers did a really good job of guarding him, but he's a good player and he showed it tonight."

After falling behind 10-6 at the end of the first, THS used a 19-2 surge to take a 25-12 lead late in the second quarter. The Bobcats shot less than 31 percent from the field in the first half, allowing the Chieftains to go into intermission with a three-score advantage.

Phillips' squad didn't allow BLHS many second-chance opportunities in the first two quarters, as it won the first-half rebounding battle, 19-12.

"In the second quarter, I think we played as well as we have all year," Phillips said. "We set the tempo and dictated how the game went, but then they came and flipped that on us in the second half."

Jack Dale found his way to the rim several times during the scoring burst, finishing with 13 first-half points, but was limited to just two in the second half on a layup in the final minutes.

As a team, the Chieftains shot 38 percent from the field in the second half after shooting an even 50 percent in the first.

"In the second half, I thought they played a lot more aggressive," Phillips said. "They really tried to turn it up on the defensive end of the floor, which made it a lot harder for us to get those open lanes to the basket."

James Grizzle and Sommers also reached double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Younger scored 16 of his game-high 18 after the break, and Patrick Muldoon added 12 for BLHS.

The loss marks the end of the line for seniors Grizzle, Tyler Ford, Eric McPherson, Eric Tate and Ben Johnson.

"You obviously don't like to see your seniors go, and it's really tough when you thought you'd be in it all the way to the end," Phillips said. "It didn't end up working out that way."

The Bobcats advanced to this week's state tournament with a 61-58 win against Piper in Saturday's sub-state championship game.